Thompson required to replace doorknobs, cost is about $500,000

Colorado fire code requires changes for safety by 2018

By Pamela Johnson

Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
05/19/2016 04:54:48 PM MDT

Updated:
05/20/2016 10:46:58 AM MDT

Dan Maas, chief operations officer for the Thompson School District, right, talks Thursday, May 19, 2016, about plans to replace doorknobs this summer at Thompson Valley High School as the principal, Lanny Hass, left, shows how they use magnets to keep the doors, which are always locked, from latching. In the event of an emergency the magnets can be quickly removed to secure the doors. All schools must have new doorknobs by January 2018 to be compliant with state codes. (Jenny Sparks / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

The Thompson School District is required by the state to replace all old doorknobs, pictured at left at Thompson Valley High School, in all school buildings with new hardware that allows teachers to lock the doors from inside the room. An example of the new locks is pictured, at right, at the new High Plains School. (Jenny Sparks / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

The Thompson School District must replace the knobs on 1,140 doors across school buildings at a cost of between $445,000 and $600,000.

The change is required by state codes to ensure teachers are quickly able to lock their doors from inside their classrooms in the event of an emergency and to still meet revised state fire code requirements.

Most of the interior doors within the schools in the district have simple doorknobs that lock from the outside with a key — a cost-effective option that was commonly used when local schools were built, even in newer schools within the past decade.

But now, with more worry about an active shooter incident inside schools, safety requirements dictate that teachers must be able to quickly lock their classroom doors from inside in the event of an emergency.

During the past two years, since the state fire safety code was updated in 2015, schools were able to jury-rig the doors, using magnets over the locking mechanism. That allowed doors to be easily opened throughout the day and still lock quickly by simply removing the magnet.

That Band-Aid, however, must be removed by Jan. 1, 2018, when state fire code dictates that all doorknobs in all schools statewide be changed.

The reason for the change is that the doors are designed to create a barrier during a fire, and the magnets interfere with the seal that creates that barrier.

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Thompson School District is starting with Thompson Valley High School this summer where 66 doorknobs will be replaced throughout the building.

Matt Throop, facilities director, chose hardware that will work with current doors but can also be used if the doors are replaced during a potential remodel of the school.

These particular knobs cost $380 each. Some of the doors require different or double hardware, so the cost per door will be more in some instances.

This project at Thompson Valley will cost $31,000 out of the $770,000 capital improvements budget for the 2015-16 school year.

Replacement at the rest of the schools will occur sometime after that and the district, which is already dipping into reserves every year just to operate and complete a fraction of the needed maintenance across the schools, is planning to apply for a state grant to cover a portion of the cost.

Throop said he will seek a Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grant, which is money the state has available for schools from taxes on marijuana sales. During the past two years, since the marijuana money has been available, Thompson has received a grant a year — $203,808 in 2014-15 and $173,696 in 2015-16 — to help pay for roof repairs at two different schools.

When the work is complete at Thompson Valley High School, it will be the second school in the district to have all the correct doorknobs. High Plains, which is under construction and will open next year, is the other.

A few doors in other buildings have the correct knobs, but the majority must be replaced. The number at each school varies. Loveland High needs the most, 105, while Carrie Martin Elementary School requires the least, seven.

The oldest building in the district, Bill Reed Middle School, which opened in 1916, requires 52 new doorknobs.

After the changeover at Thompson Valley, the district will schedule when to complete the work at other schools before Jan. 1, 2018, and seek grants to pay for them.

If the school board seeks a bond issue in November and voters agree, money earmarked for maintenance will help offset the cost of the new doorknobs.

But cost aside, the district is required to replace the doorknobs, and it is a matter of security for teachers to be able to lock their doors quickly in the event of an emergency, without having to step into the hallway with their keys.

"Safety is our first and foremost priority," said Lanny Hass, principal at Thompson Valley.

Teachers and staff at Thompson Valley High School use magnets to keep the doors, which are always locked, from latching. In the event of an emergency the magnets can be quickly removed to secure the doors. All schools must have new doorknobs by January 2018 to be compliant with state codes. (Jenny Sparks / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

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